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Malware
"Malware" is the 47th episode of Once Upon a Virus. Summary After what happened to Emma, people are out for Liz's blood, bot or no bot. Liz, meanwhile, prepares for the final stages of her plan, hoping that Joe's need for revenge will turn him dark enough to be turned once and for all. And in the past, the launch of a simple computer program causes untold mayhem in the lands beyond the internet, and we track the life of one bot as it possesses a multitude of Wikians. Plot The stare goes on, but soon enough Josh disappears in a flurry of black smoke, giving Joe and his look of rage nothing to see except the dead girlfriend that's been dropped at his feet, her throat mercilessly slashed and the arrow used to do it still lying nearby, dripping blood into the puddle created when the attack itself took place. Shards of glass are added to it, thanks to Liz's carelessness, and Joanna uses one of them to cut through the ropes still binding her daughter's wrists and ankles – she's far too distraught to use magic at this moment. Emma Seer lies there, looking peaceful except for her torn neck, while those who witnessed her death stand around awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do or say. The young blonde woman's mother is crying over her dead body, while Joe is done taking it all in, darkness flashing across his face right before he utters, "No." He stands up straight and heads behind the counter, leading his parents to ask him what he's doing. "Isn't it obvious?" he asks, reaching into a drawer and pulling out the revolver used by Brad to shoot Josh (see "Pain Bringers"), "I'm going to kill Liz." Making sure the gun is loaded, the young man thumbs back the hammer. "Honey, I'm home," Liz announces as she strolls on into the bakery. Matthew greets her with a kiss, before asking what she's been up to. "Oh, same old, same old, a little kidnapping, a little murder… in fact, I just killed that Emma girl." "No way," Matthew says with a smile. "Yes way!" Liz assures, "Ha, and you should've seen their faces. I slashed her throat right there in the middle of The Sword and Hammer, all her loved ones staring at me. It was practically orgasmic." Hearing this from the next room over, Selena shakes her head in disgust, seeing the nearby door and deciding to walk on through it. Liz, meanwhile, continues to converse with her boyfriend, asking him in turn what he's been up to. "I've been reading up on the Modem," he explains, "Did you know—" "Liz!" Josh exclaims, cutting Matthew off after having just manifested into the bakery. "Ah, Reginafan," Liz beams, "Did you enjoy the show?" "What in seven Tumblrs was that? You… you…" "Killed someone? Almost like an execution? Like those things you staged practically every day that you were Bureaucrat?" "I'm not judging what you did, I'm just wondering… why?" "That's my business," the redhead assures. "I thought I was a part of your team," Josh recalls, "That… that I could at least be clued in on the inner workings of whatever it is you're planning." After a pause, Liz concedes, "You're right. You are a part of my team, Josh. And I'll let you in on the plan, right now even. But first you have to understand something… I'm a bot, and therefore I adore pain and destruction… but I'm also Liz. The bot part of me is happy to have bestowed such a violent death upon someone so innocent, while the Liz part of me… well, I can feel her just buzzing as well. I think a part of her likes what I do. She beheaded her own brother, you know. So just ask yourself, next time you decide to talk back… all of what she is, and all of what the bot is, mingled together to form me… is that the kind of person you wanna piss off?" Her smile fails to break, but her lips and veins are now black, making Josh uneasy. Two computer nerds are sitting in front of their laptops in a bedroom in flashback, one of them telling the other, "Dude, I dunno about these 'bot' things. Computers doing things for themselves, it's… weird." "Don't be stupid," his friend tells him, "They're just used for carrying out mass functions – they make our lives easier. What harm do you seriously think could stem from that?" The second nerd then hits a key on his laptop, and the shot takes us inside the wires, showing us little impulses of electricity. And then we're inside the internet, and breaking through to the lands beyond. Certain electronic impulses are met by shadows, and combine with them to form the strangest little creatures. They move through the internet. Through time. And then… Wikia Many Years Ago The creatures – the bots – burst forth in a hailstorm of wind, swirling and swirling in an oddly virtual cyclone. "Oh my…" utters the Staff fairy Rappy 4187, "That's the worst Pornado I've seen in… years." He turns around, exclaiming, "Brace yourselves, fairies! A fearsome pop-up is on the horizon!" As various Staff members begin to reach for their wands, the bots are let loose from the whirlwind which contains them, and one in particular immediately launches itself down Rappy's throat. His lips and veins turn black as the bot takes over, and then he utters in a voice brimming with evil, "Physical form… I think I like it; I'm… a person." The little possessor proceeds to exit its first host, causing him to collapse to the ground in an unconscious heap, going on to try out a multitude of Wikians. In the present, Liz is walking Josh toward the Staff of Peace, handing him a pair of gloves and requesting that he wear them at all times when standing near it. "So… what's your plan for it?" the Evil Bureaucrat wonders. "I'm going to destroy it," Liz explains, to Josh's surprise; she goes on, "That there is the only weapon that can destroy my Messiah. Speaking of, he should be arriving any day now… I have certain preparations to make. If you think of a way to break that thing, I'll be ever-so-grateful. The gloves?" Josh puts them on in front of her, to her satisfaction, and she proceeds to bid him goodbye before heading off into a separate part of the bakery. He stares at the Staff, lying there, and then he decides to approach it. Removing his glove, he lifts the ancient weapon up with his bare hand, allowing it to bond to him. As it does so, flashes run through his head… He sees glimpses of the ancient sorcerers, Renaboss and Lynettefan2626, as they forge this Staff to mark an end to their war. He sees the Staff of Peace stored away in a cave, waiting for the day that it might one day be of use. He sees a portal open beneath it, and the Staff fall through to Earth. He sees an archaeological dig take place, allowing for the Staff to be found by none other than Adrian Josington, who sees it as an interesting addition to his gallery and walks away with it. When the flashes end, the Staff is Josh's, and the crystals in the tip crackle with deadly energy. The Evil Bureaucrat walks away with it. "Joe, you can't be serious," Justine is telling her son back at the bar. "But I am," Joe assures, the gun still in his hand, "It's time for me to accept that Liz is gone, and that thing that stormed in tonight and killed Emma… it can't be allowed to roam free any longer." "What you're talking about is murder," Rena points out. "It's not like I've never killed anyone," Joe points out in turn, "We buried the Kahns earlier this very evening." "Joe…" Rachel utters, not having known this, and he looks suddenly ashamed. "Your parents are right," Joanna finally speaks up, having laid a clean tablecloth over her daughter's corpse before standing, "You shouldn't kill Liz." "And just why the hell not?" Joe wonders, surprised to be hearing this from her more than anyone. Finally, she says, "Because I'm going to," before melting into a puddle of blood and sliding out beneath the door. "No!" Rachel manages to exclaim, but it's too late – her girlfriend is gone. "You," Rena tells his son, prying the revolver from his hand and placing it atop the counter, "Are going to stay exactly where you are." "Good," says Josh, stepping in through the shattered window with the Staff of Peace in tow, "That'll give me a chance to explain." Everyone is understandably shocked. Liz is on her knees in a room of the bakery which she's painted all black and kitted out with candles – the only source of light, all converging around a photograph of Joe towards which the bot-possessed redhead is praying. "May you be as powerful as a million exploding Suns, and as villainous as the darkest corners of the Earth, my Messiah," she begs. As she goes on, blood begins to dribble through the cracks in the walls, soon streaming down into a puddle on the floor. When it hits the hardwood, Liz's ears prick back, but she shows no sign that she's heard anything, merely continuing to mumble while one hand slides down from the prayer position and towards her hip. A figure begins to rise from the puddle of blood, and before DeviousPeep has even fully-formed, Liz is on her feet and aiming Joe's sword right at her throat. "Careful now," Liz says, allowing her black lips and veins to show, "You wouldn't wanna end up like your daughter, now, would you?" Joanna's face is wrought with anger. The same black lips and veins are present on the face of Trellar in the past, but she hides the bot part of herself when Rappy approaches, asking his fairy friend if she's ready. "Ready to power the Bot Seal?" Trellar questions, to which her boss says, "Of course." The two of them head into the room in which Staff's most dangerous magical items are kept, and when Rappy approaches the large seal, the secretly-possessed Trellar approaches what looks like a Chat Mod in black leather and stranger-than-normal armor, various weapons surrounding it. "What's this?" she asks. "Why are you asking?" Rappy wants to know, "We have more important matters at hand. It's only so long before the bots infiltrate this place…" "Yes, that would be terrible," Trellar hastily agrees, "But I'm just curious… tell me." "That's Hero fan," Rappy sighs, "An ancient warrior forged in secrecy to guard the Staff of Peace, but that disappeared some years ago." "How does one forge a warrior?" wonders Trellar. "It's a lengthy process… and one that ultimately didn't pay off." "Why is that?" "He was created in the very depths of Internet Explorer… he's unfortunately very slow," Rappy explains, "Not that that matters because he's been dormant for years. Will you help me now?" "Right, sure," Trellar says, retrieving her wand and approaching the Bot Seal. Her wand glows with magic and she zaps the thing, only for the energy to bounce off of it and dissipate. "What are you doing?!" Rappy exclaims, leading Trellar to hiss at him through her blackened features. "Get out of her!" Rappy orders, realizing what's occurred; he points his own wand at his bot-possessed comrade, who cites him as being no fun. He hits her with a ball of magic and she vomits out the little sliver of shadow-lightning, which then flies out through the nearest window. "Are you alright?" Rappy asks, and Trellar nods, saying that they should get this Seal activated before the bots cause any more damage. However, the nearby suit of armor begins to rattle – the bot in fact flew into Hero fan, and is now bringing him to life. However, Rappy was right. It's incredibly slow, and each one of its movements is at a snail's pace. It's as though it's moving in slow motion despite the fact that the reality around it is normal speed, and Rappy just sighs, forcing the bot out of that with his magic as well. This time, when it flies out the window, Rappy makes sure to shut it, before turning to Trellar and gesturing towards the seal. She nods. Outside, we see the bot that possessed Trellar be pulled back into the palace, along with every other bot currently ravaging Wikia. They're all stored within the seal (see "Another Place"). "This is all wrong," Liz tells Peep in the present as she continues to hold a blade to her throat, "I don't want you to try and kill me, I want Joe! It'll be the last thing he needs to turn truly dark! I mean, murdering a past love… overwriting that level of light magic with darkness is just… wow…" "You're stupid," Joanna manages to utter, leading Liz to tell her how unwise it is to insult the person with your life in their hands. "That boy's family won't let him out of their sight; there's no way they'll let him hurt you; to take that kind of plunge…" Liz, grumbling with anger, soon finds herself whacking Peep around the back of her head with the sword's handle, before sheathing it. "The witch bitch is right!" Liz exclaims to thin air, "I need to organize some sort of distraction…" "Uh, baby?" Matthew says as he enters the room, holding the Modem, "I think I might have just the thing you need." Liz appears excited. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Joe exclaims, going to grab the gun, but Rena quickly intervenes and forces his son back into his chair, holding him still. "Don't do anything you'd regret," he warns, but Joe assures that he wouldn't regret a thing. "It's not what you think…" Josh utters, and before Joe can reply, Justine manages to cut in by asking, "What are you doing with that?" she gestures the Staff, "It's what Brad used to take hostages…" "Yes, it is, it's called the Staff of Peace and I stole it from Liz's lair. I've spent the last few days infiltrating the Maleficent Seven, learning everything I can about them and what they're planning." "Do you expect us to believe that?" Joe asks, "You made me murder my adoptive parents…" "No, you did nothing," Josh assures, to his grandson's confusion; he proceeds to ask, "Do you really think your aim with a knife is that good? Or that scythes just… fall that way? No, Joe. I was standing outside the window the entire time, using magic to guide their murder weapons. I killed them, not you." "But… Emma's death…" Joe utters. "I was trying to stop Liz, I swear," Josh promises, "I did all this because… I was hoping you'd forgive me." Suddenly, Selena bursts into the pub, exclaiming, "I have left the Maleficent Four! I can no longer work for people so… violent. I have come to join your side and—" she sees that they're in the middle of something, and says that she'll just be "over here", taking up space in a corner of the room. "So what are they planning?" Rachel steps forward, pretending that Selena didn't just happen, "Why do you have that… gold stick thing?" "This is the only weapon capable of destroying Jdg98 – Liz stole it so that she could destroy it; she caught some glimpse of the future where Jdg ravages the lands and she's been working her ass off to make sure it comes true." "Wait so… that Staff… it can destroy… him?" Joe asks, recognizing it from his vision of the future; he himself was wielding it against Josh, who, in the present, nods. "And why do you have it?" Rena wonders, "To use it?" "Not necessarily. I read a lot about this Staff back when the fairy Trellar was teaching me about my magical heritage," Josh explains, "I… I took it just in case." "Just in case what?" his daughter inquires, but Josh tells her that at a time like this – he gestures the covered-up dead girl on the floor – that hardly matters. He simply came back because he thought he better explain himself following what Liz did. Joe stirs uncomfortably. "Believe it or not, I really have turned a new leaf, and I want to be there for my grandchild," Josh adds. "Granddaughter," Justine reveals to him, evoking a smile. The Evil Bureaucrat smiles wickedly back in time, telling DisneyMeerkats as they both stand outside the Community Central Palace, "Trellar always told me that the Staff of Peace was lost… but I have an inkling that it's stored in this place's secret room. See if you can score it on your way in?" "Sure thing, boss," Disney tells its master, before transforming into one of the Community guards, hiding its sack which is bigger on the inside. The disguised troll makes its way through the palace and eventually finds the room which is filled with magical artefacts, stuffing in all that it can find which looks valuable – including the Bot Seal. Some while later, Primadonna Girl is seen sneaking into her husband's sysop treasury with her baby in tow, swaddling her greatly before placing her gently down on a nearby table. She then begins shovelling gold in handfuls into a sack as she readies to leave. "Where's that seal?" she wonders to herself as she stockpiles money, not knowing that it's all the way on the other side of a mound of gold. As she moves Reginafan's treasures, some of this mound falls, and the Bot Seal is opened the tiniest crack. A beam of light emanates from it as one bot in particular manages to wriggle itself free, causing the seal to close as it finally escapes. It flies from the treasury, escaping Prima's notice entirely, and makes its way to freedom, able to possess whoever it pleases. "So, what kind of distraction do you have in store, Matty-boy?" asks the bot, now residing in Liz, in the present. "Do you know how this Modem works?" he wonders. "I should say, I nearly drained my damn life energy to charge it," Liz recalls (see "Protector of the Site"). "Yes, and the way it drains energy is by accelerating the ageing process. I think, with all my study on this thing, I should be able to take that ability and… channel it. Remotely." "So… what will that accomplish?" Liz wonders. "Just you wait and see," Matthew says, rubbing the edge of the device and causing it to glow to life. "So if Joe didn't really kill the Kahns… his heart isn't 'dark'?" Rena asks Josh, who's about to reply when his daughter suddenly moans, falling down. He rushes to her aid, but she's already sitting up, gesturing for everyone to take a step back. "Justine?" Rena questions, staring down at his wife, "What just happened?" He is in shock, as is everyone else. "What?" she asks, "Why is everyone staring at me like—" and then she looks down and sees it – she's damn near nine months pregnant according to the sudden size of her belly. "Oh, my…" she utters warily, feeling terribly confused. Rena helps her to her feet and Josh approaches also. Rena asks Rachel to go upstairs to fetch his dad while he and Josh help Lady onto a sofa in the back room. Selena follows Rachel, not knowing what to do, and Joe is left all alone in a room with Emma's corpse. Staring down at the blanketed body, a tear comes to his eye… an eye which then spots the revolver still resting on the counter. He proceeds to grab it and exit the bar, unbeknownst to everyone else inside. "Well done, Matthew!" Liz exclaims, kissing her boyfriend in congratulations for his ingenuity. "And now," she says, "We play the waiting game…" A regal-looking Bureaucrat is standing outside her castle in the Wiki of Lostpedia when a bot flies down and enters her body through her mouth, causing black lips and veins to flare up but then sink back down. "Mommy," utters a young Villain fan, "I'm hungry – order one of the maids to make me a snack!" The Bureau stares down at her young child with disgust on her face, and he orders, "Do it or I'll throw a tantrum so big that people in that trash Revolution Wiki will be able to hear it! Is that what you want, mommy?! You want my voice to grace the ears of stupid-heads?!" The Bureau rolls her eyes, allowing her black lips and veins to re-flare, frightening her son enough to make him run away, crying. The bot then exits her body, leaving her unconscious and looking for a new place to go. The bot is next seen possessing Belle Peep, having some fun using a bullwhip on her daughter Selena before flying on out. When this happens, the bullwhipping doesn't stop. Over the years, the bot possesses many, many people… we see it entering James 1234 as he remains in his Wiksteria Lane Wiki ghetto. It has some fun, playing with his dark warlock magic but eventually gets bored and flees. The bot flies into the mouth of the midwife DoctorStrange as he delivers some woman's baby. "It's a boy!" he announces through his black lips, before throwing the baby against the wall and having te bot fly out of him, leaving him unconscious and the mother hysterical. MissMayfair remains magically entrapped in a cottage when it enters her. "Ooh, this girl has such potential for power," she says, but then she digs through her memories and realizes that she can't leave this place. "Not even worth it," she decides, before the bot leaves her. ImmaGleek is in the garden, using a sword against a wooden dummy as she trains herself. The bot enters her and immediately decides, "Oh, ew. Boring. Nope. Never possessing this thing again." It then flies out. We see the bot possess another Bureaucrat, this time a man. We see the bot possess a random prostitute trying to make money in some tavern. We see the bot possess a baby and giving its mother a real fright with its twisted features. One day, we see the little sliver of lightning stare down a delightful-looking housewife, who sings sweetly as she sweeps up her porch, ready to go make dinner for her family. The bot moves in, intrigued. The next day, this housewife is seen with a bloody knife in her hand, having stabbed her husband and two small children. She stands there, shaking, her lips and veins black. "There you are!" Rappy 4187 exclaims as he bursts in, "I've been looking a long time for you…" "Do you know what the strange thing is?" the bot-possessed woman asks as she stares out at the carnage she's caused, "When I possessed this one, I saw how nice her memories were… and I thought I could make more for her. I thought I could carry on her life and, well… live. Sweetly. Nicely. Normally." "Why didn't you?" Rappy asks, curious, "Why did you do… this?" "I had to," she explains, "It's in my nature." Over at the Once Upon a Time Wiki palace, MaryPierceLopez is sweeping the sysop treasury when she comes across the Bot Seal, accidentally knocking it with her broom. When she does so, she activates its magnetic abilities, and the bot inside the housewife talking to Rappy is sucked out and pulled back inside with its brothers and sisters. Liz continues to wait in her bakery when the door is kicked open by Joe, wielding a revolver. "Just on time," she says with a smile on her face, "Come to give ol' Lizzie a telling off?" "Shut up!" Joe orders her, "You're not Liz, you're just a thing!" "You're right, and I can't be allowed to roam free any longer… not after what I just did…" she tells him. "That's… that's right!" Joe assures, stepping in closer, and Liz gets down on her knees, asking Joe if that will make shooting her more easy. "What are you doing?" he wonders. "What are you doing? I notice I'm not dead yet…" Liz points out. "I, uh…" he aims his gun shakily. "Do it!" she orders, "Pull that trigger and let that aim be true! Take that final plunge into the darkness! Eradicate the light and let the shadows curl around your heart! Make my Messiah strong! Remember what I did, Joe? Remember what her face looked like when she died? She was so scared… so… so let down. You failed her. You allowed me to carve her throat out. I need to be punished for that though, don't I? Don't you want to punish me? Don't you wish you had the power to inflict some real pain? Well now you do! So do it, Joe! Shoot me! Complete the process and put a goddamn bullet in my brain!!!" Joe is edging, aiming the gun right between Liz's eyes, his finger hovering over the trigger. He is sweating, crying. He looks at her – she still looks like his girlfriend. The gun becomes shakier. And shakier. And then he can't. The throws it across the room and bursts into tears, "I can't!" he yells in reply, and Liz, breathing heavily, finds herself looking very disappointed indeed. "I wanted a Dark Savior…" she explains as she gets to her feet, "I wanted my Messiah to be as powerful as he could ever possibly be… I wanted to give him his best chance… but I guess I'm just gonna have to take what I can get, huh?" Realizing that her hand is on her sword, Joe finds himself uttering, "No… no, no!" But it's too late. By the time he's had time to react, Liz has already plunged forward and sent his own blade racing through his heart, piercing right through his back and protruding out, dripping with his blood. "Funny," her black lips whisper into his ear as he begins to quiver, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, "The last words Joseph Kahn will ever say." She proceeds to grab the handle of the sword and pull it out, happy to see Joe's eyes flash purple. His chest wounds heal almost instantly, and Jdg98 tells the bot-possessed woman in front of him, "Thank you for freeing me." She kneels in his very presence, uttering, "Master…" "Where's Joe?" Rena asks over at the bar, but he's suddenly distracted by his wife's screams. "What is it?" Josh asks, gathered with Rachel, Selena and Tiago. "It's the baby," replies Justine, "She's coming." Category:Season 4 Category:Episodes Category:ImmaGleek-Centric